Conquest — Season 1, Episode 2: Weird Weapons of the Middle Ages
Documentary • 30 min • 2 seasons, 28 episodes • ★ 7.0/10
Episode synopsis
Actor and fight master Peter Woodward searches museums and private collections for weird and unlikely weapons, then introduces them to our combat team to find out how they were used. We try out a Francisca, the throwing axe that gave the Franks their name; see how armored knights used a ball and chain; and learn the uses of the gruesome awl-pike, bizarre military fork, and the Guisarme, an extremely popular polearm. We also test strange axes like the Lochaber, Doloire, and Waggoner's Axe. TV PG
About Conquest
Conquest is a TV show on the History Channel hosted by Peter Woodward. In each 30 minute episode, Woodward teaches his small group of assistants a particular type of weapon, or a set of weapons from a particular time period, while demonstrating their function, describing their comparative advantages and disadvantages, and discussing their history. Episodes have ranged widely across history, from "Stone-Age Weapons" to "Air Combat" and even including "Unarmed Combat". As examples of the broad spectrum, Roman weapons and tactics, SWAT tactics and ninjutsu have all featured.